The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) will establish 18 new Priority Programmes, in which researchers will investigate fundamental scientific questions in particularly topical or emerging areas of research over the next few years.

The new Priority Programmes were selected by the Senate of the DFG - Germany's largest research funding organisation and central self-governing organisation for the research community -in Bonn from a total of 87 initiatives. This represents 15 more initiatives than the previous year, indicating a very high interest in the Priority Programme as a funding instrument.

The newly established Priority Programmes cover the entire spectrum of disciplines, from humanities and social sciences, life sciences and natural sciences to engineering sciences. Topics range from research into turbulent flows, the physics of Rydberg atoms with their various applications in science and technology, to the newly defined class of innate lymphoid cells to decoding the mRNP code which is crucial to the existence of every cellular organism. Another topic is if and how organisations can use forgetting as a mechanism to cope with the growing flood of information in their environment. Some of the other newly selected programmes are aimed at creating the scientific basis for the development and establishment of new cyber-physical system networks in communications and information technology, at minimising the tendency of lightweight structures to vibrate, and at measuring and creating models for the rise in sea levels at a local and a regional level.

All the programmes are highly interdisciplinary and are notable for their application of innovative methods. Support for early career researchers is an essential part of all the programmes, and is in fact one of the key criteria for the establishment of a new Priority Programme. All programmes also have a gender equality strategy.

The approved initiatives describe the main subject of a Priority Programme. Over the coming months, the DFG will announce a separate call for proposals for all 18 programmes. Proposals will be evaluated in a rigorous review process to determine their scientific quality and their contribution to the general topic in question.

A total of approximately 105 million euros will be available for the 18 new programmes in the first three-year funding period. The Priority Programmes are generally funded for six years. Currently a total of 91 Priority Programmes are being funded. The 18 new programmes will get underway in 2016.

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